Let's face it, you might as well be in the kitchen. The biting cold and flint grey skies are not good for much – except maybe a 10-minute constitutional to bring on a raging appetite for something savoury and comforting. Or perhaps motivate you to teach yourself a new skill from which you can reap the heartiest of rewards. If you've never made your own pasta before, perhaps now's the time to start.

I realise there are quite enough noisy chefs out there waving the Italian flag, and you really don't need me to join the olive oil-gargling, bunched fingertip-kissing, mamma mia-shouting throng. But I do make my own pasta once in a while. And whenever I do, I think, "I really should do this more often." So why not share the thrill?

It's the best kind of kitchen alchemy: a Rumpelstiltskin kind of thrill – pasta gold from straw (well, wheat), a few fresh eggs and a pinch of magic salt. You've almost certainly got all that it takes in your kitchen right now. In other words, you're just a couple of hours away from the smoothest, silkiest pasta you've ever tasted, ready to capture a sauce, snare a bit of cheese and deliver up some fine flavours in a fabulous, fragrant, fulsome forkful.

Pasta-rolling machines are easy to find and not very expensive. They'll do a lot of the work for you, certainly, but it's perfectly possible to make great pasta without one – it takes a bit of patience, but it's not at all difficult. If you're short of time, make simple sheets rather than tagliatelle. Or give gnocchi a go – they're easy and relatively quick to put together, and are fun to make with kids because small hands are particularly adept at rolling them out like edible Plasticine snakes.

In my house, this is how we roll…

Tagliatelle with chicken livers, pancetta and sage

The pasta and livers have to be ready at exactly the same time, so have the water boiling and the plates warming when you start on the sauce. Serves six to eight.

Sift the flour and salt into a heap on a worktop. Make a well in the middle and tip in the eggs and oil. Begin drawing the flour into the eggs with your fingertips, mixing to incorporate into a sticky dough. (You may need a little water, depending on the size of the eggs.) Knead gently but firmly until smooth, elastic and silky – about five minutes. Wrap in cling-film and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into quarters and flatten one piece into a rough disc (rewrap the rest in clingfilm, or cover with a damp tea towel, until you're ready to roll them). Roll out with a pasta machine, gradually decreasing the width of the setting, or roll it out by hand (use a well floured rolling pin) until it's very thin – so thin that, were you to place a sheet of newspaper beneath it, you'd be able to see the print, even if you couldn't read what it said. Rest for about 15 minutes, then cut into strips, either using the tagliatelle cutter on the machine or by hand. To cut by hand, gently fold the dough into thirds, place on a floured surface and, using a sharp knife, cut into strips approximately 5mm wide.

Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta so it's ready at the same time as the sauce – if you cook it straight away, it will take only a couple of minutes at a rolling boil, or three to four minutes if you have left it to dry overnight. Drain well.

To make the sauce, warm a tablespoon of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the pancetta until it just begins to take on some colour. Add the garlic, fry for a minute, then add the livers and sauté until they're just seared on the outside. Tip in the cream and sage, season, allow to bubble for a minute, then tip over the just-cooked pasta and grate over some parmesan. If you like, warm the rest of the oil, fry some sage leaves until just crisp and scatter over the pasta.

Pasta sheets with shin of beef

Squares of silky pasta are a simple alternative to tagliatelle, and are just the thing to soak up the rich sauce of this ragù. Serves four to six.

Warm two tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium-low heat. Gently sweat the onions, carrots, celery, thyme and bay leaf for 10 minutes, then add the garlic and fry gently for a further minute. Transfer the lot to a bowl and set aside. Add the remaining oil to the pan and warm over a medium-high heat. Season the meat and brown on all sides – you may need to do this in batches – transferring each batch of browned meat to the vegetable bowl before starting on the next. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping up all the tasty brown bits, and let it bubble for a few minutes until reduced by two-thirds. Return the vegetables and meat to the pan, tip in the stock and tomatoes, and season. Bring to a simmer, partially cover and simmer very gently for three to four hours, until the meat is very tender. Stir in the parsley and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Cut the pasta in half to make it easier to roll out. Roll out each half very thinly, as with the tagliatelle, then with a sharp knife cut into squares of about 7cm. Add to the water, stir, and boil for three to four minutes. Drain and serve on warm plates topped with the ragù.

Cut the potatoes into similar-sized chunks, put into a pan, cover with 4cm water, salt well and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until tender, then drain. Mash the potatoes, but not until they're buttery-smooth – the gnocchi should have a little texture to them. Transfer the mash to a bowl and as soon as it's tepid, add the cheese, flour, egg and parsley (if using), and season generously. Using a wooden spoon or your hands, bring together to make a firm dough. Knead gently for a few minutes, then roll the dough into sausages about 1cm in diameter. Cut each into 2.5cm-long pieces. (If you like, gently roll the gnocchi over the back of the tines of a fork to make grooves – these will help them hold on to the sauce, but it's fine to cook them as they are.)

Bring a large pan of water to a gentle simmer. Cook the gnocchi, in batches, for a minute or two, until they rise to the surface. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon as they rise and transfer to a hot dish.

Warm the butter over a medium heat until it is a deep, rich hazelnut brown, then dip the base of the pan into cold water to stop it cooking further. Add the lemon, thyme and walnuts to the butter, toss with the gnocchi, add the parmesan, some salt and black pepper, and toss again. Serve immediately, with more parmesan to grate at the table.